A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum The Tomato Forum Light Question

Okay, I have too many tomato plants coming up now to count. Here's my problem...

All my mini-greenhouses are sitting on my kitchen table, under a window that gets really good morning light. The plants don't get any DIRECT sun, because the table sits lower than the angle that the sun can reach. I started noticing that the plants are growing AWAY from the window, and it was puzzling me. Now that they have gotten taller, I can better gage which way they are trying to go. I have a flourecent light that is over my sink, and that is what they are reaching for. That particular light stays on 24/7. Should I either move the plants or turn the light off at night to keep them from getting "leggy"? Today is day 8 since I put them in and they are already at least 2-2 1/2 inches tall.

Another question I have is, I lifted the cells up on the Romas to check the water level in the base. Some of the sprouts already have roots that are growing out the bottom of the cells by a good 2-3 inches! Is this supposed to be happening already? Is there something that I'm not doing right? Or am I just lucky that the roots are so happy (as my 9 yo says!)? I really don't want to do anything that is going to cause me to loose these plants. None of them have their first set of true leaves, so I know I can't transplant into bigger pots yet.

Thanks in advance!

Annette

Man, that seems really unusual...you might want to transplant a few and see if they can take the shock, but either way, they should be okay for now. Breaking a few roots when you do get to transplant isn't going to hurt anything, what you DON'T want is plants getting rootbound, that won't happen for a while. You should allow all the water in the tray to dry up befor adding more, that might have omething to do with the roots growing out the bottom.
You really should try to get more light on the plants. You could shut the light off to stop them growing toward it, but that light is not helping them in any significant way. Artificial light should be no more than 2 or 3 inches from the tops of the plants to give them much benefit. One way to avoid some legginess is to put a small fan where the seedlings are in constant motion, just "jiggling' a bit, that really helps make the stems thicker and tougher.

I have a ceiling fan in the kitchen that stays on constantly, so they are getting plenty of air movement across them. As for the water, I moistened the starter soil when I planted the seeds last Monday. I didn't have to add water at all til Saturday, the day after all the sprouts came up and I had taken the top off. I may be able to move my kitchen table some and allow them more direct light in the mornings. I don't have a way to set up actual artificial light for them at the moment. I really wasn't expecting these plants to take off they way they have! I need to thin them anyway, so maybe transplanting the ones I thin will help, too.

What temp can I set them outside during the day? That will probably be the easiest/best way for me to get more light to them. I would want to bring them in at night because the temps are still dipping pretty low at times. I would rather not risk them.

BTW...I know that "determinate" and "indeterminate" means that one is a climber and one isn't, but I can't remember which is which. Could someone enlighten me? LOL

Annette

First I'll mention the determinate/indet....the indeterminates are what you're thinking are "climbers," but that's only partly right. Indet.s fruit over a long period, indet.s tend to have a big load all at once. That's really more correct. Determinates may or may not depend on support, indet.s often need support, but that's not a hard and fast rule, it all depends on the variety. Like I said, the difference has more to do with how they fruit, and somewhat to do with branching habit, but in general most tomatoes need to be supported.
Putting the plants outside is called hardening off, you put them out a few hours one day, in partial shade, then introduce them to more sun over about a week, or more if you have time and the ability to spend the time. part of this has to do with standing up to some breezes and acclimating to varying temps, and the first few times, you don't want to shock them, so wait for temps in the low 60s the first time or crack the window for a day or 2, that sort of thing. I'll re-read your question and write more later, I'm out of time right now...so check back, Okay?
Lots of people here have some experience with tomatoes, so hopefully, you'll get some other pointers, too.

Thanks! That helps alot. I thinned them earlier and "transplanted" the ones I thinned out. I think I broke the root on a few, but it wasn't many of them. Most of them slid out of their little beds just fine. All the roots of the ones that didn't break were all 1/2 again as long as the sprouts were tall. I was really amazed at that.

I may loose a few of them, but I think that the majority of the ones I transplanted are going to be fine.

Thanks again for the info, and I'll keep checking back for more! LOL

Annette

Well, I'm just making it back here. What's new? Transplants looking happy?

Most of them are. Some have lain down to take naps...I don't know if they'll "wake up", but I'm still hopeful. LOL

Seriously though. Out of 66 transplants, 15 of them are either laid all the way down, or are drooping really bad. I figure those are the ones that had the root break or maybe I just didn't get them planted deep enough.

Yesterday I moved the table where the plants would get some direct light from the sun. And kept moving the table as the sun moved. They seemed to have liked it, so I will do it again today. The weather has been colder again the last few days, so I will have to wait to start setting them outside.

Anymore tips? LOL

Annette